Say Her Name – James Dawson

This book is another entry for the Hounslow Teen Read Award; I think we put this in second place. I’m going to classify this is as a horror – based on the fact that it is about a creepy urban legend where if you say ‘bloody Mary’ into a candlelit mirror five times then you summon the ghost of Mary and after five terrifying days she will take you off to the afterlife (or wherever). The book centres around the character of Bobbi Rowe, a teenage girl attending the incredibly posh and slightly spooky Piper’s Hall boarding school. She is hanging out in the local graveyard on All Hallows Eve (as you do) with some other girls from her school where she meets the hunky (I am a child of the eighties!) Caine. He seems to be already taken by the slightly horrible Grace, not that he seems to know that. Another of the mean girls tell them about the story of Bloody Mary and dares everyone to do it. They all back out except for Bobbi, Caine and Bobbi’s best friend, sassy Naya. This is where the book starts to get interesting. The book is cleverly interspersed with news articles about other girls who have gone missing from the school in previous years, making the whole thing seem a bit more believable.

Strange things start happening to Bobbi. Things written on the mirror, doors slamming etc. then she gets a visit from Caine and he confirms that he has had the same experiences. Then another girl in her dorm goes missing and the police get involved – it’s starting to get serious. Bobbi and Caine make a trip to see an old pupil who is now is a mental institution and they start to realise that the stories may all be true. They do manage to get some kissing in while they are scared witless so all is not lost. This book deserves it’s horror classification as the book gets more and more creepy as it goes on. When we discussed it in book group a couple of the girls said that they struggled to read it at night. I wanted to see how the author would end the book, I couldn’t believe that there was really a ghost and not someone playing tricks but the finale is pretty spectacular. A really good old fashioned horror that left me hoping that no one actually goes and tries this at home – the romance was a little off key with the rest of the book though; I understand why it was there but it kind of took away the suspense a bit.